The everything, everywhere tire.

In case you haven't noticed, selecting the perfect tire is becoming a fairly complicated affair. In fact, you're faced with so many variables, that it almost seems necessary to rotate through dozens of tires in order to equally match durability, flexibility, tread, and speed. And to further complicate this, the trajectory of selection runs parallel to a seemingly rising cost of entry. However, with the new Open Corsa EVO SR, Vittoria has finally provided a remedy to this problem. This tire features the same core spun, 320TPI cotton casing and ISOgrip compound as the rest of the Corsa EVO line, only it's been given a versatile tread pattern in order to enhance its abilities across the board. So, you'll experience more contact through corners and more grip through adverse road conditions, all while experiencing a reduction in rolling-resistance. Basically, this amounts to more speed, wherever it is that you find yourself racing.

Now, if you're unfamiliar with how the Italians operate, we'll breakdown the title for you. 'Open' is the Italian terminology for clincher, as in the clincher-version of Vittoria's Corsa SR tubular tire. Meanwhile, 'Corsa' translates directly to 'race,' as in, this is a race-designated tire. Put the two together, and add in the evolution designation of 'EVO,' and you have a next-generation tire that's designed for speed. And while we understand that a name is simply a name, the Open Corsa line's results speak for themselves. Simply put, this line boasts more race wins than any other tire in history.

And now that we have your attention, let's dig into the SR's construction. Vittoria gave this tire a 320TPI casing composition, meaning that the casing is comprised of 320 threads per inch. And if you're wondering why there are 'threads,' this is because the EVO SR is a cotton tire. But, don't think that this decreases durability. In fact, Vittoria used a corespun, or 'polycore,' technique for the casing's construction. Essentially, this means that the casing fibers are made by twisting staple cotton fibers around a central filament core, creating one yarn from multiple fibers. As a result, the material is between 40 and 50% stronger than typically spun materials, while retaining a similar, if not lower, overall weight. Additionally, the 320TPI cotton casing provides the ideal stiffness-to-weight ratio for the SR. By this, we mean that the tire's weight hovers around 250 grams, depending on width, while still retaining a perfect level of flexibility for cornering.

Along these lines, you'll notice that the casing's high TPI equates to finer-grade fibers used in its composition. Accordingly, the fine fibers are more malleable than say, 220TPI casings, and this flexibility creates a more adaptable interface for the tire's rubber contact surface during cornering. So, this design provides a higher level of grip than rubber, which is why cotton casings are used on nearly every high-end tubular in the world. Additionally, the weave's density also absorbs a great deal of impact, while also contributing to a low-level of rolling resistance. This equates directly to both comfort and speed.

For this generation of the EVO, the tire receives Vittoria's newest rubber compound, ISOgrip. After two years in development, Vittoria is confident that it's set the benchmark for racing rubber. According to Vittoria, ISOgrip expresses equal grip in both dry and wet conditions and features its lowest rolling resistance to date. However, like any racing tire, these benefits arrive at the cost of a relatively low wear-resistance, but on race day, you're not going to be worried about wear.

The Vittoria Open Corsa EVO SR is available in the color Black and in a 24 mm width. And to reiterate, this is a clincher tire and it's sold individually.

Here's what others have to say...

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Loved 'um!

These have been awesome as a crit racing tire. Supple and fast, key elements of a good cornering tire. Only bummer part was taking them out on rougher roads, not much flat protection and they ended up getting shredded pretty good by glass. For a race day tire, they're an excellent choice but for everyday riding I'd go with the Pave if you're looking for 25mm. The 24mm was really more like a 23mm.